Going back to the spring, the Colorado State coaches had been open about wanting to see more production from the linebackers.
On more than one occasion both head coach Jay Norvell and defensive coordinator Freddie Banks expressed to the media that they wanted to see the group flying all over the field and being disruptive against the run. And particularly early on in the process, when other groups of the defense were standing out, the linebackers as a whole were not playing up to the staff’s expectations.
While it’s not uncommon for coaches to challenge position groups publicly — it’s a pretty regular tactic in fact — one of the things that stood out in the spring game was that fifth-year linebacker Cam’Ron Carter was demoted and replaced by walk-on Drew Kulick in the starting lineup, a redshirt freshman who was relatively unknown at the time.
Back in April, though Kulick played well in the Green & Gold Game, I assumed that Carter’s demotion was likely temporary and more of a motivational tool than anything else. But when Phil Steele’s annual team preview came out and had Kulick listed as the team’s starter over Carter, it was definitely noteworthy. After all, Steele likely isn’t projecting a walk-on in the starting lineup unless that was what he was told would happen in his annual conversation with Norvell for the magazine.
In the early stages of fall camp and in the team’s initial scrimmage, a lot of Carter’s reps continued to come with the twos. During Wednesday’s scrimmage, however, Carter got a chance to run with the ones and really looked good. Immediately after getting onto the field, Carter recorded a pass breakup against wide receiver Thomas Pannunzio on a crossing route. Then a few plays later, Carter came barreling up the gut to stuff a run play for a loss in a short yardage situation. Carter kept up that intensity throughout the live reps and was a guy that definitely stood out from a hustle perspective.
Following Wednesday’s scrimmage, Freddie Banks talked about Carter’s strong showing and gave some insight into what had been going on behind the scenes.
“Cam is in the mix right now. He’s going to play a lot of snaps for us. At the end of spring, we wouldn’t of said that. So I mean, we’re proud of him.”
Banks continued, explaining that the staff was open with Carter about his standing on the team. “It was no secret. He was with the twos and probably was out of the mix for us.”
Fortunately for the Rams, Carter embraced the challenge. He didn’t pack his bags and hit the transfer portal in the summer. Instead he worked his tail off, so much so that he earned the nickname “knee up, toe up” from the staff because of how much better he’s moving on the field this fall.
“We’re really pleased with him,” Banks said. “It’s a comeback. I mean we were pretty pointed about being honest about what we thought. He could have tanked it but he’s going to help us win a lot of games.”
While it’s no guarantee that Carter will start over Kulick, who has also impressed Banks with his progress so far, it’s encouraging to see one of the most experienced returning players has been able to work his way back onto the field for the Rams. Ultimately CSU is going to need all of these linebackers to play significant snaps, especially with the way Banks plans on rotating more than the previous staff, but having a player with four years under his belt essentially not even being able to see the field would have been a big blow for the depth of the defense.
With Dequan Jackson leading the group though, and Carter, Kulick and Co. flashing of late, Ram fans can feel a little better about the state of the linebacker room going into the 2022 season than they may have felt a few months back.
“Adam (Pilapil) has done a really good job with those guys,” Banks said. “He played the position. And obviously he’s done a good job coaching them. They’ve taken a big step towards next level football, which is just understanding backfield sets, understanding splits, alerting motions and pre-snap communication. Because we don’t do a whole lot, but our guys should be able to recognize what the offense is doing to us and that’s going to help me do my job. They’ve done a good job.”
The CSU linebackers have about two weeks to get fully accustomed to the 4-2-5 scheme before the Rams will be tested against No. 8 Michigan in the biggest football stadium in the country. There is still certainly progress to be made, Banks said the team did not tackle as well on Wednesday as they did in the first scrimmage when the defense basically dominated from start to finish. That said, things seem to be moving in the right direction.
The Rams will be off on Thursday before returning to practice on Friday and Saturday. On Monday CSU will transition to its game week routine and on Saturday the 27th, the Rams will hold the final scrimmage of fall.
Gear up, Ram Nation. September 3 will be here before we know it.
